The present invention relates to a hand and forearm cleansing device, particularly to a device used in surgical suites as a scrub station.
It is known that it is extremely important that the hands and forearms of a surgeon and of any personnel involved in surgery be thoroughly scrubbed and free of microbes. Many devices are known which serve this particular purpose. Briefly, they include cleansing mixture preparation means and an elongated cleansing compartment in which the scrubbing and rinsing of the forearms takes place. Within the cleansing compartment is disposed a set of cleansing mixture nozzles, stationary or rotary. The nozzles are directed radially inwardly towards the forearms and hands placed in the cleansing compartment.
U.S. Patent to Crisp et al. No. 4,817,651 depicts a typical example of a device of this kind. In this particular arrangement, a pair of rotary cleansing compartments is provided in which pulsating stream is directed towards the hands and forearms of the person utilizing the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,522 issued to Taldo et al. depicts another arrangement in which a manifold is arranged in an elongated compartment and is provided with means for controlling the pulsating of the scrubbing and rinsing liquid such as to avoid excessive noise encountered in previously known devices.
The known devices of this type have several disadvantages. First of all, they are not adapted to different height of the persons using the device with the resulting difference in the angle at which the forearms and hands of the person using the device are inserted into the cleansing compartments. This may result in an inappropriate cleansing not to mention the inconvenience for the user. Another drawback of the known devices is that, despite different curtains, boots or the like devices, a substantial amount of the liquid used in cleansing escapes out of the device through the ports in which the forearms of the person using the device are inserted.
Last but not least, the existing devices of this kind consume relatively large amounts of water and of the cleansing anti-microbial mixture. The known devices are not protected from operation with an unsuitable anti-microbial substance.
It is an object of the present invention to further advance the art of the devices described.